


Inhumans & Squids

by 101places



Series: framework role-reversal [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen, The Framework Universe (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 05:26:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18309086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/101places/pseuds/101places
Summary: For as long as Simmons could remember, she had an interest in the abnormal and extra-human. It's just a shame that the world doesn't seem to share her enthusiasm.( AKA: AU where Simmons was put into the Framework )





	Inhumans & Squids

**Author's Note:**

> i saw an interview where elizabeth henstridge said that she thinks that if simmons had been put into the framework, her biggest regret would have been her initial prejudice against inhumans and it got me to Thinking and then this happened
> 
> also camp nanowrimo just started so that was as good an excuse as any to finally finish this!!
> 
> i might write more based on this concept eventually, or... maybe not! i think the framework is interesting but also im not actually sure how much detail id be able to go into orz
> 
> anyway let me know what you think, i guess!! hope you enjoy!!

For as long as Simmons could remember, she had an interest in the abnormal and extra-human.

One of her earliest memories was sitting cross-legged on the floor, her face pressed against her TV screen as an old documentary about Captain America and the super-soldier programme played. She’d watched that documentary so many times that the VHS had worn out, and she had been able to recite it word-for-word.

And, as she grew older, her fascination only grew with her.

She wanted to know everything that she could about Dr Erskine, or about Gamma Radiation, or about Arc Reactors. It didn’t even come from a desire to be ‘super’ herself- though she did believe that anyone who claimed they didn’t want superpowers was lying- she just thought the potential of humanity was amazing.

This drive to uncover everything she could about the potential of humanity motivated every choice she made in her life, so it was no surprise when she was invited to attend the SHIELD Academy.

There, Simmons research continued. Her professors showed some concern at her lack of interest in her peers, but Simmons paid them no mind- why should she care about forming petty social bonds that would ebb and fade with time when she had work to do? There weren’t really many people at the Academy that interested her, anyway. Despite being so young compared to her peers, she felt that she was still miles ahead of them all.

Or, well, no. Not all of them.

There were two other students that she felt were on a similar level to her, but they both gave off an aura that caused every instinct in her to scream ‘danger’, so she gave them a wide berth, interacting with them only when absolutely necessary. They never seemed to pay her much attention, anyway, aside from one sending her the occasional contemptuous look, and that worked well enough for her.

Two years into her time at the Academy, and she graduated early. The options of what she could do with her future were limitless, but ultimately, Simmons made the decision to remain at the Academy- no longer a student, but a professor.

Simmons had never been the biggest fan of change in her own personal life, and the Academy offered her everything that she wanted, anyway- resources to continue her research, peers who understood at least a fraction of what she was saying to treat as rubber ducks, and alternative outlets for when she needed to take a break from a particularly large roadblock.

Perhaps she felt an itch for adventure somewhere deep inside. Perhaps sometimes she entertained the idea of doing something more active- of becoming a field agent instead of just remaining a lab rat. But those were just flights of fancy. Simmons was sure that staying here at the Academy was what she was always meant to do.

So that’s what she did. She continued her research, growing increasingly fascinated with not just man-made abilities, but the naturally occurring ones. What was it that caused some humans to just develop these amazing abilities? Was it always the result of a mutated gene, or were there other causes? The more she researched, the more she came to realise that this area of study was missing so very much.

For a few years Simmons continued her research while inspiring the next generation of SHIELD scientists, until one day in 2008 everything came grinding to a halt.

‘The Cambridge Incident’, as people began to refer to it. A child with extra-human abilities- an  _ Inhuman _ , as people were beginning to refer to her and those like her- caused a catastrophic amount of death.

The public consensus of the incident was glaringly obvious- fear, which gave way to paranoia, which gave way to anger. Simmons could understand the progression well enough, it was a natural way to react to such a terrible event, but she found herself unable to share in the emotions of those around her.

She had read the file of Katya Belyakov. She understood as much of the girl’s background and abilities as her clearance level allowed her to, and the reports she heard of the incident just didn’t add up.

Why had Katya been in that school in the first place?

Confusion gave way to curiosity, which gave way to suspicion. The more she looked into the incident, the more convinced she became that something more insidious was at play.

Still, Simmons continued with her research- only, now she had a different motivation.

While she was still fascinated in the biology of these Inhumans, her primary goal was no longer to understand how they worked. Her goal was to help them understand how they worked, and to use the information she was able to uncover to help them as best as she could- the whole world was slowly but surely turning against them. What sort of open-minded scientist would she be if she followed suit?

For the following year, Simmons managed to keep under the radar well enough, steadily increasing her Inhuman contacts, and knowledge. Then, just like that one terrible day in 2008, disaster struck again.

It was after-hours, and Simmons was waiting up in her office, continuing with her regular hours. It wasn’t uncommon for her to remain at her work into the early hours of the morning, easily getting caught up in her latest thread and not wanting to put it in on pause, lest she be on the verge of a breakthrough. She was so caught up in her work, that she didn’t hear the frantic footfalls racing towards her room, only realising that she wasn’t alone when her door opened and slammed shut without so much as a knock.

Simmons looked over, ready to chide her late-night visitor for their impoliteness, but found the comment dying on her tongue when she saw how panicked the student before her looked.

Simmons was familiar with the girl, though not many would know this. She wasn’t in any of Simmons classes, and she wasn’t the type of student that Simmons typically took a special interest in, anyway. She was bright, yes, but interacted more with her peers than she did her professors. She was intelligent enough to get into the Academy, but compared to the other students there could best be described as ‘average’.

However, there was one abnormal trait about her.

The girl was an Inhuman.

Apparently, Simmons research was positively regarded amongst Inhuman communities, so when the law requiring Inhumans state themselves had passed, Simmons had turned been who she had turned to, in a state comparable to the one she was in now.

At the time, Simmons had sworn to never tell another soul, and to help her keep her secret. Breaking the rules was never something that Simmons had felt particularly comfortable with, but if the law was unnecessary, it would be foolish to follow it. Simmons knew that this student would never harm another person, and making her identity known would only make her vulnerable.

So Simmons kept her secret. Every now and then, the girl would show up in her office, wanting to share her experiences or to seek advice, which Simmons was more than happy to offer. She quickly became an invaluable research opportunity, but more than that, Simmons began to consider her a friend.

Having spent so much time with her, Simmons was aware that this type of behaviour meant something was seriously wrong. She paused her work and gave her full attention to the terrified student.

“Take a seat and tell me what’s wrong.”

The girl shook her head frantically. “There’s no time. They have- they have guns. I saw them shoot Professor Hall. We have to run.”

Simmons frowned, the words not processing. “What? Who did?”

“HYDRA.” The girl said. “And they’re coming here. They’re going to come for us. We have to run, please.”

In a moment, it felt as though the world shifted around Simmons. What the girl was saying wasn’t possible. HYDRA had been destroyed during WWII, by Captain America. Everyone knew that. The world today wasn’t pleasant, but surely things weren’t that bad. Surely this student had misunderstood. Surely in her panicked state she had jumped to conclusions and believed some fear-mongering nonsense.

Surely if something as evil as HYDRA had taken roots in society again, she would have noticed sooner.

Except…

She had noticed, hadn’t she?

The Cambridge incident had always been suspicious.

With this final piece finally in her hands, Simmons found with growing horror that she understood exactly what was happening- what had been happening over the course of the past year.

Simmons turned back to her computer and ejected her memory stick. All of her research was held on it. If she was to make it out of this, that information would be invaluable. After slipping it into her pocket, she stood and approached her student. One thing at a time. They had to get out.

Walking through the Academy after everyone with sense had retired to their quarters always brought forth a strange sensation, though in the past years she’d called this place her home, she never would have described that sensation as dread, but now she couldn’t think of a better fitting word. The comfort of the familiar hallways had vanished, and instead, she felt as though she was starring in her own personal horror movie.

Heavy footsteps crashed on the floor, and Simmons quickly pulled her student into a utility closet, cupping her hand over her mouth to quiet her panicked gasps. From the crack in the door, she could make out two heavily armed figures dressed in all black.

“Clear.”

“Here, too.”

“Really? You’ve got nothing? The light was on.”

“Maybe she just doesn’t care about the environment.”

“...Shut up. Move out, check the next floor. She can’t have gone far.”

The footsteps faded away, and Simmons let out a quiet breath of relief, but didn’t let herself relax. This wasn’t over yet.

Somehow, they would have to sneak through the Academy without detection, breach the perimeter, and then… what? If HYDRA was taking over SHIELD, how could they possibly know who to trust? It wasn’t as though Simmons had many contacts aside from Inhumans, who would already be in enough danger without housing fugitives.

But, no. Now wasn’t the time to worry about that. For now, they just had to survive. She’d worry about tomorrow when it came, right now her priority was getting herself and her student as far from here as she could.

Sure that the HYDRA agents weren’t coming back, Simmons removed her hand from her student’s mouth and gently pushed the closet door open, and cautiously led the way down the corridor.

Trekking through the Academy took twice as long as it normally would have, having to keep their footfalls as silent as possible, and having to check around every corner before they could continue. Progress was slow, but with the alternative being death, neither party saw any reason to complain.

The pair were nearly out. One more corner, and they’d reach a fire escape, from which they could disappear into the trees and, with any luck, escape this nightmare. The only problem was between them and the door was an armed HYDRA agent.

There were two of them and only one of him, but neither Simmons nor her student had any practical experience in the field, and neither of them held any sort of weapon. If they tried to take him out, they would definitely get themselves killed.

“It’s okay.” Simmons spoke quietly, working hard to keep her tone both low and level, “There’s another exit on the next floor down. We just need to back out and try another route.”

The student nodded, and they began to creep backwards.

Then, their plan was interrupted by the sound of heavy boots and loud, harsh voices.

“Check down there!”

Footsteps came closer once more, and with growing horror Simmons realised that there was no longer a viable escape route. Either way they went, they’d be face-to-face with a heavily armed HYDRA agent. There was no way out. No matter how she played the scenario in her head, every ending had them both dying.

“I have an idea.” The student whispered, “If I… If I distract him, and if you’re very quiet and very fast, you could get out.”

“What.”

“We don’t have any other plan or any more time. I think this is the best chance we have. If it doesn’t work, then… at least we tried.”

“No.” Simmons worked harder than ever before to keep her voice quiet. “I’m not leaving you.”

“You don’t have a choice, Professor. Look, you… you know more about Inhumans than anyone else I’ve ever heard of. We need you to live.”

Without waiting to hear Simmons next argument, the girl stepped out from behind the corner. She waited until she had the HYDRA agents attention, before sprinting away- away from the door, and away from Simmons. The HYDRA agent gave chase and, knowing that there was nothing more that could be done without pointlessly sacrificing her life, Simmons sprinted out of the fire escape.

The cold air hit her face, and she ran faster than she had ever ran before into the forest outside the Academy, desperately trying to ignore the gunshot that echoed around her.

The massacre of the Academy was publicised as a biological contamination. It was recognised as a tragedy, but an accident. Some people even went as far as to blame SHIELD for the casualties while such sentiments from those who had no clue what had really happened infuriated Simmons more than anything else, she couldn’t help but wonder if there was any truth to it.

Could SHIELD have done more to stop HYDRA? Could they have prevented this hellish dystopia from coming about? Could  _ she _ have done anything? Was any of the blood spilled at the Academy on her hands?

...Well, she knew the answer to that last question, at least.

Wanting to respect the last wish of her student, and wanting to do everything she could to undermine HYDRA and protect Inhumans, Simmons began to spread her research as far and wide as she could. Her actions were limited, with being officially dead and all, but there was still work that she could do.

For a few years she bounced around, keeping under the radar and hiding amongst underground Inhuman groups, or occasionally checking in with the few SHIELD contacts she had- though, as time went by, her number of SHIELD contacts grew fewer and fewer, until she couldn’t with confidence reach out to a single one.

But that was fine. The Inhuman community, for the most part, helped her as much as they could. There were those who didn’t want to put themselves at even greater risk by directly assisting her, but plenty that considered the risk as worthwhile.

“Hm. This is the Hierophant reversed. It speaks of rebellion, new approaches and,” A snicker, “Subversiveness.”

Simmons rolled her eyes. “You know I don’t believe in any of this. These tarot cards are so open to interpretation, and you’re one of the sneakiest people that I know. You could make anything sound plausible.”

“Are you doubting my ability, Doctor Simmons?” 

“Please. You may have the power to see a potential future, but I don’t think your Inhuman ability has anything to do with little pieces of card, Raina.”

Raina shrugged, packing her cards together again. Before she could give a presumably snarky response, there was a knock at the door.

“Expecting company?” Simmons asked, glancing between the door and Raina.

“No.”

Simmons reached for her gun and slipped around the corner, so she wouldn’t be seen from the open door, but was prepared to defend herself and her ally should she need to, as Raina opened the door.

“How can I help you?” Raina asked in her friendliest voice. One of the many downsides of being an Inhuman with an overwhelmingly physical presentation was the need to come across as polite at all times, lest risk being seen as dangerous.

“I’m looking for a friend. I heard you might be able to help?” A male voice responded, “I have a picture.”

“I’m afraid I can’t. She isn’t familiar to me.”

“Damn. That’s a shame.” The man took a step back from the door, before adding, “If you do see her around, tell her to meet me at that nice bench in the park at 900 hours tomorrow.”

Raina nodded, then let the door shut.

Simmons relaxed, stepping out from where she was hidden, looking over to Raina for an explanation.

“It was a picture of you, if that wasn’t already obvious.” Raina supplied. “You should move on soon if they’re already onto you.”

Simmons frowned. This wouldn’t be the first close call she’d had with HYDRA over the past few years, but something about this felt different. “...I wonder who he was.”

“HYDRA, obviously.”

“Didn’t talk like HYDRA.” Simmons reasoned. “...I don’t know. We’ve been careful. The only people who know I’m here are trustworthy. Even if HYDRA was able to capture and break any of them, I find it hard to believe that they’d be able to do so this quickly.”

“...You’re not going to meet him, are you?”

“I might.”

Raina looked at Simmons as if she’d just stated that the world was just a virtual reality simulation, or something equally ridiculous. “Well, it’s your funeral. Just don’t put the rest of us in danger when you get captured.”

The next day, Simmons sat on an uncomfortable park bench 15 minutes before the meeting time, glancing around at every passerby. She had no clue what this man looked like, only what his voice sounded like, but being alert was always better than being caught unaware.

Of course, she knew that this was reckless. She knew that she could very well be walking into a trap. But she also knew well enough how HYDRA worked. They didn’t leave hints and clues, they didn’t tell you to meet them in public parks. If HYDRA had believed she was in contact with Raina, then they would have dragged Raina away to be questioned, and searched her apartment from top to bottom.

If HYDRA had been at the door, Simmons knew she would be dead by now.

So this was something else. It had to be. Or, at least, this was her hypothesis- and what sort of self-respecting scientist would she be if she wasn’t willing to put her hypothesis to the test? It was just basic science. Nothing to get worried about.

“Is this seat taken?” A voice that perfectly matched the one from the previous day spoke.

Simmons looked up. The man was rather handsome. Black, with a shaved head, some well-kept facial hair, and a smile that seemed to light up his whole face. His outfit was plain, probably to prevent him from standing out, though Simmons thought that was a lost cause. After all, who wouldn’t remember a man who looked as good as him?

Simmons realised suddenly that she hadn’t given him an answer, so she shook her head silently, not taking her eyes off of him for a moment.

“Great.” He took the seat, leaning back. He seemed perfectly at ease with his surroundings. “Lovely weather we’re having.”

Having finally remembered how to speak, Simmons decided to cut right to the chase. “Why were you looking for me?”

The man smiled, “Because I know who you are. Dr Jemma Simmons, bio-chemist, leading researcher into Inhumans even before the Incident.”

Simmons looked around nervously.

“Relax, it’s fine. No one’s listening, and my people have staked this place out for a few weeks now. No squids this time of day.”

“...That still doesn’t answer my question.” Simmons replied after a moment.

The man laughed softly. “Yeah, I guess it doesn’t. Let’s start over. I’m Antoine Triplett, and I’m an agent of SHIELD.”

“SHIELD’s gone.”

“No, never gone. Just rebranded. We’re calling ourselves the resistance nowadays.”

“You mean… with the Patriot?”

“There’s the one. Look, Dr Simmons, we’ve heard about all the work you’ve done for Inhumans. We’ve heard how loyal you are to SHIELD- damn, I don’t think many can say they died for it. We need more folk like you.”

“Are you recruiting me?”

“Well, I’m certainly trying to. You interested?”

Simmons frowned, looking back out at the park. For some reason, there was no doubt in her mind that this man was the real deal. It was as if every instinct in her body was telling her that it was okay. That if she trusted this man, she’d be able to live to see a better tomorrow.

“...Yes.”

 

.

 

Years passed by, and the war for freedom from HYDRA raged on. It seemed inevitable that they’d fall, one day, maybe soon. But for now, they continued to limp on, and while they were still alive, Simmons would continued to do her bit, for the sake of every life that HYDRA had snuffed out.

The resistance quickly became her home. A place where she could be safe, where she could continue her research and spread it to those who needed it, where she knew that she wouldn’t wake up tomorrow with HYDRA bursting down her door- and if, one day, she did, then she wouldn’t have to face that horror alone.

The resistance members, themselves, became her friends and family. Agent Triplett became the person closest to her in the world, and even after he went missing, she kept him close to her heart. The Patriot, who she now knew as Mace, was a man that she greatly admired- a principled Inhuman who stood for everything good in the world. A true symbol of revolution, of the ideal world they strived for.

There was also, of course, Agent Ward. Simmons was… still unsure of what to make of him. He was important to the resistance, of course, but something about him put her on edge. When he was around she couldn’t rest easily. She was always just waiting for him to stab them all in the back, and every day it didn’t come her paranoia grew.

So when she heard his voice raised, she followed the sound, preparing herself for anything she might find. What she wasn’t expecting was to see an unfamiliar man and woman standing there between him and Mace.

“What’s happening?” Simmons spoke up, making them aware of her presence.

“Dr Simmons. We have some new recruits,” Mace began, pausing to send a side-long look at Ward, “apparently.”

Before Simmons could begin to process the new information, or greet her supposed new allies, the woman rushed forwards, wrapping her arms around Simmons in a tight hug.

“Oh my god… Jemma.” The woman said.

“Um,” Simmons replied, awkwardly petting the woman’s back, “Hello.”

The woman pulled back, shaking her head. “Oh. Right. Yeah. Sorry- uh. I love your work. I didn’t mean to- I’m Daisy. Johnson.”

Simmons gave a small nod. This was certainly the strangest reaction she’d gotten, though it was true that some Inhumans had reacted rather extremely to her in the past, so she supposed

“Dr Jemma Simmons, but… you already know that.”

“I just want you to know, Je- I mean, Dr Simmons, that no matter what happens from here on out, I’ve got your back.”

It was a kind sentiment, and not one that Simmons hadn’t heard before, but for some reason when this Daisy Johnson said it, Simmons found herself believing it with all of her heart. 

How strange.


End file.
